Today was another perfect day in Alaska. We were bathed in blue sky, sun and hot weather from the minute we awoke until the sun settled behind the Baranof mountains in the evening. The morning started by Jim negotiating with boaters along the dock, finding out who was leaving when, who would not mind moving forward or backwards, who wouldn't mind rafting for a short bit while we moved this boat here and that boat there. That man has many qualities, one of which is excellent people skills. People are just attracted to him - by his manner and interest in their lives and his willingness to drop everything to help them out. In any event, he had it all worked out and over the next 1-2 hours we left Jak and were directed into a tight little space on the dock between Jay Hawk (with Good Vibrations rafted to her) and a large power boat in front - there was lots of help on the dock but I must say, we did pretty well with the small space we had to negotiate with that docking. Then a spot was found for Jak in front of us after a couple of power boats had left and eventually a spot was found for We Be Jammin in front of Jak. Later in the afternoon Happy Dance (who had stayed behind in Red Bluff for an extra day) arrived and rafted alongside us. Much of the day centered around getting ready for the big salmon smoke that night. Alder poles had to be found, cut down and stripped to hang the salmon. Wood had to be scavenged for the fires. This was a cumbersome process since there was no wood nearby and we had to take a couple of dinghies outside the bay and locate wood on rocky beaches. The wood had to be brought down to the shore, piled on the dinghies and lashed down for the trip back to the dock. As has been mentioned before, making a salmon smoking area - all the preparation, all the attention to the salmon as they are cooking and the length of time this all takes - is a lot of work. But, as before, it all culminates in a great potluck feast at the smoker site and tonight was no exception. We had a wonderful time with many laughs, guitar and banjo music with singing, swing dancing (as demonstrated by Allen and Molly), good food but the topper is that smoked salmon which tastes so good. Everyone should sleep well tonight!